Bear in mind that having more fat means that the brain gets starved of (glucose)[http://www.loni.ucla.edu/~thompson/ObesityBrain2009.pdf] and blood sugar levels have (impacts on the brain generally)[http://ajpregu.physiology.org/cgi/content/abstract/276/5/R1223]. Some research has indicated that the amount of sugar available to the brain has a relationship with self-control. A moderately obese person may have fat cells that steal so much glucose from their brain that their brain is incapable of mustering the will in order to get them to stop eating poorly. Additionally, the marginal fat person is likely fat because of increased sugar consumption (which has been the main sort of food whose intake has increased since the origins of the obesity epidemic in the 1970s), in particular there has been a great increase in the consumption of fructose: which is capable of raising insulin levels (which signal to the body to start storing energy as fat) while at the same time not activating leptin (which makes you feel full). Thus, people are consuming this substance that may be kicking their bodies into full gear to produce more fat: which leaves them with no energy or will to perform any exercise.
The individuals most affected by the obesity epidemic are the poor and recall that some of the cheapest sources of calories available on the market are foods like fructose and processed meats. While there is a component of volition regardless, if the body works as the evidence suggests: they may have a diet that is pushing them quite hard towards being obese, sedentary, and unable to do anything about it.
Think about it this way, if you constantly wack me over the head you can probably get me to do all sorts of things that I wouldn’t normally do: but it wouldn’t be right to call my behavior in that situation “voluntary”. Fat people may be in a similar situation.
Bear in mind that having more fat means that the brain gets starved of (glucose)[http://www.loni.ucla.edu/~thompson/ObesityBrain2009.pdf] and blood sugar levels have (impacts on the brain generally)[http://ajpregu.physiology.org/cgi/content/abstract/276/5/R1223]. Some research has indicated that the amount of sugar available to the brain has a relationship with self-control. A moderately obese person may have fat cells that steal so much glucose from their brain that their brain is incapable of mustering the will in order to get them to stop eating poorly. Additionally, the marginal fat person is likely fat because of increased sugar consumption (which has been the main sort of food whose intake has increased since the origins of the obesity epidemic in the 1970s), in particular there has been a great increase in the consumption of fructose: which is capable of raising insulin levels (which signal to the body to start storing energy as fat) while at the same time not activating leptin (which makes you feel full). Thus, people are consuming this substance that may be kicking their bodies into full gear to produce more fat: which leaves them with no energy or will to perform any exercise.
The individuals most affected by the obesity epidemic are the poor and recall that some of the cheapest sources of calories available on the market are foods like fructose and processed meats. While there is a component of volition regardless, if the body works as the evidence suggests: they may have a diet that is pushing them quite hard towards being obese, sedentary, and unable to do anything about it.
Think about it this way, if you constantly wack me over the head you can probably get me to do all sorts of things that I wouldn’t normally do: but it wouldn’t be right to call my behavior in that situation “voluntary”. Fat people may be in a similar situation.